


Your Ghost

by DarbyDoo22



Series: Phantoms [5]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, M/M, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sad Diego Hargreeves, Vigilante Diego Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 07:57:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19269007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarbyDoo22/pseuds/DarbyDoo22
Summary: Diego finds out about Sir Reginald’s death. He definitely didn’t wonder how their father’s death would affect Klaus.





	Your Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> Still sort of sad but more hopeful I guess? Anyways, here’s part 5 of the series inspired by the album Phantoms by Marianas Trench! Let me know what you think!

Diego was twenty six years old when he found out his father had died. He had just stopped the three masked men from robbing a house when the news had flashed across the television screen. 

Reginald Hargreeves, entrepreneur, eccentric billionaire, whatever the hell else the world seemed to think he was, was dead. 

‘Fucking finally’ should have been Diego’s initial reaction. He should be fucking celebrating. Instead, he sat down, on the couch in the random family’s living room, and wondered how this would change things for Klaus. 

If Reginald was dead, then his fortune would go to all of them wouldn’t it? Including Klaus. His father had just died, and Diego’s only thought was that Klaus wouldn’t have to live on the streets anymore. 

God, Klaus was like those ghosts that always followed him around. He was haunting Diego’s mind constantly. Diego was brought out of his thoughts when he heard one of the robbers groaning in pain. 

Diego stood up immediately, slowing down only long enough to kick the man one last time in the ribs as he left the house in no particular hurry. 

Diego slowly made his way back to the gym he was renting a room out of. He almost didn’t want to go back. 

Didn’t want to have the time to think about Reginald’s death. Least of all the funeral that he would be expected to attend. That the entire family would have to attend. That Klaus- Diego shook his head. 

Diego needed to get himself together. He needed to get home, and try to ignore how much of a hold Klaus still had on him. On every aspect of his life. 

Instead, the first thing he did when he got back to the gym, after apologizing to he owner for waking him up at three in the morning, again, was pack a bag. It was just the lack of sleep that made him do it, Diego told himself, as he all but ran to the academy. 

When he got to the academy, the sun was just starting to make itself visible on the horizon. It glistened brightly on the windows of the tall building Diego had long ago stopped considering his home. 

He knew he would never truly be free of the place, free of the horrors that had been their upbringing. But most importantly, he would never be free of Klaus. He’d been running from that ghost of his past for far too long at this point. 

Duffle bag in hand, Diego pushed the metal gate open. He took the steps two at a time, getting to the door and stopping. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. 

The huge house was, for the first time, utterly quiet. Besides that, it looked exactly the same. Diego slowly walked upstairs, taking time to look over every inch of space on his way to his old room. 

Looking closely, he could see a few new dents and scrapes in the walls, from after he’d left, but nothing was out of place. Not a single picture or trophy from their days as the Umbrella Academy has been removed. Even the ridiculous portrait of Five was still there. 

He walked up the stairs as quietly as he could, in case any of the others had gotten here first. He slowly peaked in to each of the rooms, beside Ben’s. 

Diego didn’t know what he expected, but so far, only Luther was here, sleeping. Diego sighed. He should probably try to get a bit of sleep before tomorrow morning, or, well, this morning realistically. 

He’d need to talk to the coroner, to the doctors that old Reginald had been seeing, and to mom, eventually. He’d need to be well rested to deal with all of that shit. Especially if Luther was here, being his usual self. 

He crossed the hallway once more, willing himself to go straight to his own room. He’d already checked the others. There was no need to recheck any of them, least of all Klaus’. 

Maybe Diego had missed something the first time, his mind supplied uselessly. Diego knew he would not have missed anything, especially a sleeping Klaus. But he checked Klaus’ room again anyways. 

Instead of opening the door and quickly looking in, this time Diego went into the room. The room was the same, and completely different from the last time he’d seen it, the night he’d left the academy. 

Fuck it was painful to even think about. Even in the early morning light, Diego could make out every single detail of the room. The bed still pushed up to the wall opposite of the door, a small desk and wardrobe pushed up to the other two walls. Klaus’ stupid posters were still up, the laundry he’d had on the floor still there even. Everything was the same, but it looked like it had been long abandoned. 

It looked like Klaus hadn’t stayed much longer than Diego. And that thought was the worst one yet. Why would Klaus have left so quickly after Diego had? It had been the week that Ben had died, but Klaus had stayed after Ben’s death. But not after Diego had left? 

Diego wasn’t sure what to do with the information. He took a step closer to the bed, then another. He was so fucking tired, mentally and physically. He knew it was a bad idea, but Diego got into Klaus’ bed. He would have a lot of explaining to do if someone found him here. Especially Klaus. 

But the covers smelled nice. Still smelled like Klaus. The comforting scent of sugar and the bitter scent of alcohol reminded him of his last night here, and while it may not have been perfect, it was the only thing keeping Diego sane most of the time.

He drifted off to sleep, dreaming about his last night here. About Klaus. About what could have happened if he hadn’t been such a god damn coward and had stayed with Klaus, like Klaus seemed to have been ready to stay for him. 

Hours later, when Diego woke up, it felt like he was shaking phantom limbs off of himself. Like Klaus had been here, trailing his hands down Diego body with the promise of so much more. 

Fuck, Diego thought. He could leave this place, leave the academy forever, and he’d still never completely sever his connection to Klaus. Could burn every bridge between them, and he’d still be haunted by the ghost of Klaus.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so not much happier an ending than the last few, but it’s only going to get better after this! Let me know what you think!


End file.
